NFL sets date for announcement of Pittsburgh Steelers’ Dublin opponents

More than 50 young players from Greenlanes National School and Scoil an tSeachtar Laoch (both from Dublin aged between 10 and 12 years old) took to the pitch in Croke Park today to showcase their NFL Flag Football skills

The NFL have confirmed that the Pittsburgh Steelers’ opponents for their NFL regular-season game in Dublin will not be announced until early May, after the NFL Draft.

Henry Hodgson, the NFL’s UK and Ireland chief, also said that the league are actively seeking free-to-air coverage of the Dublin game, which will be the first regular-season NFL game to ever take place in Ireland.

Speculation has grown that the Green Bay Packers will be the opponents in Dublin for a game which is anticipated to take place in late September, with Rich Eisen - commentator for many NFL international games - saying on his programme last week that talk in league circles is that the Packers will make the trip to Croke Park.

Among the nine teams on the Steelers’ home opponent list for the 2025 season, the Minnesota Vikings, Seattle Seahawks and Buffalo Bills also look like likely participants in the Dublin game should the Packers, who have Wicklow-born punter Daniel Whelan on their squad, not be in the game.

“We expect that the NFL schedule for the 2025 season will be announced in early May, the first couple of weeks of May following the Draft, at that point we'll announce the opponent for the Steelers and the date of the game,” Hodgson said in Croke Park at an event promoting flag football.

“If you're familiar with how the NFL schedule gets put together, there's a lot of moving pieces to that puzzle and we probably really won't find out until it gets closer to that time.”

The investment in flag football - a non-contact version of American football that will be an Olympic event in LA ’28 - is an indication of a longer-term commitment by the league into the growth of the sport, with questions naturally being asked as to whether NFL regular-season games could become a common occurrence in Ireland as they have become in the UK and Germany.

“We're very focused on delivering the 2025 game, making sure it's the best possible experience for the fans that come to the game in the city in the weeks and months leading up to the game, make sure the Steelers and their opponent have a fantastic experience,” Hodgson said when pressed about the potential for future games in Dublin.

“While the game is the centrepiece, it really is the catalyst for a lot of what we'll do, there are other programs that we absolutely expect to implement and be in Ireland for the long term. Flag football is an incredibly important part of that.

“We are also making sure we have the right broadcast relationships in this market so American football is easier to watch and so that fans can access the NFL.

“We're having conversations right now with all of the free to air broadcasters. Free-to-air coverage is absolutely our intention for this game.

“But my ambition is certainly to make sure that the NFL more generally throughout the season and the other events that take place, playoffs, Super Bowl, Draft and so on, is more accessible to Irish fans as well.”

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